Michigan is a dynamic celebration of diverse performances, hundreds of workshops, a daily film festival and a week-long crafts show, running pace with non-stop dances, pageantry and play – all fueled by a steady pulse of pure fast-flowing fun. We live together in the remote woodlands we’ve nurtured for decades, collectively building our traditions of music, art, conversation, controversy and community. Our cultural mirror reflects us at our best – fully relaxed and wide awake. We plant our feet firmly, take up more space, laugh louder, play harder, and sink into the comfort and beauty of this place that many of us have come to call home.

Among the “interests” listed are “womyn, lesbians, dykes, music, art, film, feminism, queers,” and lots of other things.

The director attempts to explain, in response to a petition asking the artists on the roster to boycott the festival. Her words are thoughtful and I encourage everyone to read them in full and not go into full-on attack mode, but it’s still disturbing:

The Festival, for a single precious week, is intended for womyn who at birth were deemed female, who were raised as girls, and who identify as womyn. I believe that womyn-born womyn (WBW) is a lived experience that constitutes its own distinct gender identity.

As we struggle around the question of inclusion of trans womyn at the festival, we use the word intention very deliberately. Michigan holds this particular lived experience of womanhood as honorable, meaningful, unique and rich. Our intention has always been coupled with the radical commitment to never question any womon’s gender. We ask the greater community to respect this intention, and to value the complexity and validity of every gender identity, including that of WBW. The onus is on each individual to choose whether or how to respect that intention.

Rejecting Transphobia

I reject the assertion that creating a time and place for WBW to gather is inherently transphobic. This is a false dichotomy and one that prevents progress and understanding. I believe in the integrity of autonomous space used to gather and celebrate for any group, whether that autonomous space is defined by age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, gender, class or any other identity. Whatever spaces we carve out in our community to encourage healing and rejuvenation should be accepted, and we should support each other in this endeavor. Nobody should be asked to erase the need for autonomous spaces to demonstrate that they are sisters in struggle.

Hm. Earlier on in her letter, the director says this:

Built from the ground up by womyn’s innovation and womyn’s labor, filled with art, performance, play and discourse – we live together for a week in the woods and create community as we know it in no other form. There’s freedom on that land that womyn living under patriarchy rarely touch; freedom to walk in the woods at night alone without fear; to be clothed or not clothed depending solely on comfort and personal style and without judgment; to move and work and play and love without the socio-cultural constraints that uniquely push down on all womyn, all the time.

OY.

Okay, there are two things going on here. I bolded the part above, because that sort of argument is beneath people who identify as liberals. That’s right-wing, smear tactic crap in the same vein as “do you want men in the bathroom with your little girls?” That’s the first thing.

Secondly, it seems that the organizers don’t understand what a transgender person is, and maybe that’s why they’re talking about walking alone in the woods at night. A transgender woman is a person with a brain that is gendered female and who was born in a body that does not match the brain. Transgender people are not flippant about who they are, nor are they the “men in dresses” that the Right Wing paints them as. It’s a huge societal risk for people to come out as transgender, to begin the process of living in the correct gender, regardless of how they decide to undergo that transition. Likewise, there’s really not an epidemic out there of bearded cisgender men dressing up as girls in order to be around vulnerable women. It’s not like “oh, I’ll adopt this transgender persona, it sounds like an effin’ cakewalk, and then I can get close to LADIEZ.” Seriously.

The director in her note says that she wants to have an honest conversation. Well, here you go. It’s beneath the standards of an organization that prides itself on feminism, women’s rights and women’s freedom to buy into such an antiquated, incorrect notion of transgender women as people.

Transgender women are women. Or womyn. Transgender men are men. Period.

The Indigo Girls, who are on the roster of acts scheduled to perform, have addressed the issue on their blog [full disclosure: I really love the Indigo Girls]:

We want you to know some of our thoughts about our participation in Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Indigo Girls have a lot of respect for protest and dialogue in our feminist and queer movements, and we want to do our part to encourage growth and evolution in our community. We care about MWMF deeply, and in our years of playing the Festival, we have evolved and benefited from the experience. We have received many gifts from this unique and powerful gathering.

Our hope for all the past years has been that the Festival would move towards an intention of Trans-Inclusion. We have continued to search our selves and look at both sides of this issue and truly respect the different points of view, but have always come back to our core belief that Trans Womyn should be included in the Festival, and their womynhood should be honored by the intentions of MWMF. The current intention for the Festival to be for “Womyn born Womyn” only grew out of an important necessity to honor the idea that womyn have a variety of self expression and appearance and they need a safe space where their womynhood is not in question as they stand in many different places on the spectrum from femininity to masculinity. This intention has a very important historic basis and has kept the space safe for many womyn over the years. But we strongly feel that the time is long overdue for a change of intention, to one that states very plainly the inclusion of Trans Womyn. To us, this change of intention is the only path to a truly “safe space” for womyn.

We are in a time of struggle and rapid changes in our movement and we would be remiss to not recognize that many of the strides that have been made are a result of Trans Activism and the strength and perspective they have brought to the queer and feminist revolutions. We feel that if someone identifies as a womyn, they are a womyn and should be welcomed into our community with open arms. We will only be stronger for it.

We will be playing the Festival this year in the spirit of change. We encourage the Founders and the community of MWMF to find the bravery and compassion that we are all endowed with to create a space that is Trans Inclusive. We know these changes are complex and take time and careful consideration. MWMF has a long and important history of being on the cutting edge of positive change- a torchbearer for the hard transitions within the feminist and queer movements. This is the time to fulfill MWMF’s most vital role in our community and help to honor the Trans Community out in the world, by honoring them within the world of Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. We hope in the end that we can all find our “safe space” and comfort on the sacred land of MWMF.

[…]

Although we are playing the festival, we honor the current protest against MWMF and hope that it will help move the community towards change. Any money that we make playing the Festival will go towards Trans Activism. We will make a statement from stage at the Festival in support of Trans Inclusion. We have made it clear that this will be our last time at the Festival until MWMF shows visible and concrete signs of changing their intention. We have no animosity towards anyone in this case but see the deep and fearless legacy that MWMF has had during its existence and we honor that. We also honor the prayerfulness that has been a part of this struggle on both sides. This is not an easy path, so we empathize with all who struggle to make their decisions. We love Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and hope for it’s continued presence and power in our lives.

Sincerely,

Amy and Emily
Indigo Girls

Well worded, and an interesting way to handle it. It seems to me that the other artists on the roster should probably follow suit. Andrea Gibson has cancelled her performance. I’ve reached out to another artist, one that I highly respect, to see what she has to say about it, and I’ll keep you all updated.

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32 Comments

Just so you are actually reporting the full truth…this is not a change in policy for the Festival. This has been the policy since the Festival first began in the mid 1970’s.

IanCApril 12, 2013 at 5:35 pm -

Im not surprised, what with the spelling “Womyn”

John K.April 12, 2013 at 5:35 pm -

Shameful.

Priya LynnApril 12, 2013 at 5:38 pm -

Artemis that this is not a change in policy is unimportant.

Paul DouglasApril 12, 2013 at 9:39 pm -

Change takes time, people need educating and its always labor intensive. 5 years from now this won’t be an issue, but there will be blood, sweat and tears to get there. Thanks to all of the activists who are putting themselves on the line for truth and justice.
I can empathize with both sides and wish them well in finding their common ground. We’ve got so many big threats from the right-wing that we need to confront.

Richard (the "Wing-nut")April 13, 2013 at 2:41 am -

Let’s make this simple: it’s like if I threw a fit over not being invited to the NAACP conference, being the whitest person I know. Ya get? As much as I want to be black, it ain’t gonna happen :) I swear, some people seriously need to grow a brain.

Bayne MacGregorApril 13, 2013 at 5:47 am -

Richard, your analogy is quite incorrect. Because the trouble with your analogy is that Transgender women are 3 times more likely to have been bashed than cis lesbians and 6 times more likely to have been attacked with a knife, bottle, stone or other weapon.. Oops those are the Australian stats, the American ones are much worse, so much so that by the standard population estimates the leading cause of death of a black transwoman in America is murder and that rate is several times higher than anything ordinary like heart disease.

Try finding an analogy where people who have been badly mistreated are throwing out people very much like them but who have been mistreated even more than they and maybe you’ll find an apt analogy (Hint: an example might be the expulsion of Lesbians from some early womens-rights organisations)

Comparative statistics, just the thing someone who has in fact grown a brain might use to consider a subject.

It’s one thing to hold a Michigan White Womyn’s Music Festival, another to hold a Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival that doesn’t permit Blacks.

gabrielsglenJune 22, 2013 at 4:35 pm -

cis is a term used by trans people to describe what they will never be. womyn born womyn generally dislike the term cis because you see we don’t need a term to describe us we are womyn. you may keep your cis and you may hang and date people such as yourselves because this lesbian womon preferrs to date and sleep with lesbian womyn and i am not alone.
in the workplace i will give anyone their preferred pronouns but that is where i draw the line. to me a trans person who is born a man and who does not or ever will not have surgery is a man. a transperson who does have surgery is a different sort of woman one who has nothing in common with me so i prefer to not hang out or date this type of person. also a person who has male genetalia should not use gym locker rooms saunas or other areas designated as female only. until surgery happens you are still physically male.
gender is not a brain absolute gender is a social construct. sex is the chromosome cards you are dealt with at birth. there is a difference. all the surgery in the world will make one something they were not born to be. you can think you are a person of the opposite sex. You can create yourself in the image of your chosen sex but you will never truly be that sex. you may be classified as a woman but you will only ever be a woman of another sort and it is not the same as a person who was indeed born raised and lived as a womon.
i feel sorry for trans people. it is hard to overlook the obviousness of it all. while i give you your pronoun it still doesnt mean you are passing. it just means you are being humored.

at least i feel secure in myself as a lesbian womon. i see no need to transition. only a very few truly need to transition. the rest are just fakes and give those who truly feel the need to do this to themselves a very bad name.

RainbowPhoenixJune 22, 2013 at 6:00 pm -

Your transphobia is showing. It’s disgusting.

By the way, Cis simply means that your gender identity and biological sex match. There’s no need to have a temper tantrum over something that is apparently completely accurate.

Priya LynnJune 22, 2013 at 6:21 pm -

If you were secure as a lesbian woman you wouldn’t feel the need to denigrate transwomen.

EmmaJune 22, 2013 at 7:14 pm -

I could in theory understand not wanting to date trans women (even if I think that it’s silly/wrong) but not wanting to hang out with trans women is just ridiculous, full stop. I agree with Priya and Rainbow Phoenix, your transphobia and insecurities are showing and it’s weird/creepy/sad.

Priya LynnJune 22, 2013 at 8:34 pm -

Thanks Emma.

FarishJune 24, 2013 at 12:14 pm -

Emma, what is it about lesbians (i.e. womyn–people without dicks–who are only attracted to other womyn–people without dicks) not wanting to date or be around people with dicks that you find odd or silly? Lesbians by definition are repulsed by dick, so there’s nothing surprising about our choosing to exclude them from our lives as much as possible. Seems self-evident.

I apologize for being a day late and a dollar short in terms of this topic. That said . . .

When I first heard about the music festival’s “womyn born womyn” policy I was surprised. To me, it was as an example of pure and simple discrimination. The more I read about the festival, the more I read accounts from attendees and from transwomen who want to attend, the more I realized it’s complex, that there are multiple levels of identity and privilege playing out.

As a gay man, I have no investment in the issue – it doesn’t affect me in any way shape or form. Frankly, five days of camping with thousands of strangers sounds like some Dantean version of hell. I wouldn’t want to attend. At first, I wondered when the festival organizers would recognize their policy is discriminatory and would change it. The more I read accounts from women who attend and who support the wbw policy, the more I realized the reasons for the policy are rooted in complicated understandings of the lived experience of being female in a society that too often disregards and devalues women and their lives. The festival is intended to create a unique space for women who have had the experience of growing up female.

I do not believe transwomen are a threat to cisgender women. At the same time, it’s fair to ask if growing up transgender is the same as growing up female. The experiences seem different and would seem to have different impacts on persons. Are the experiences sufficiently distinct as to prevent the formation of a common bond? The exclusion of transwomen certainly seems wrong to me but if the argument is about the lived experience of being born and raised female, it suggests that there may be valid reasons to at least consider the policy before rejecting it.

For me, the question has evolved to “How can I as a gay man stand in solidarity with both those who attend and support the wbw policy and with the transwomen who want to attend and can’t?” What does it mean to understand that both sides may be right and may be wrong? There are accounts of transwomen behaving in ways that are harmful to the stated intent of the festival oragnizers, ways that damage community. At the same time, the behavior and rhetoric directed toward transwomen by supports of the wbw policy are harmful and at times profoundly bigoted.

I want to support both communities as they engage in dialogue without an expectation of any specific outcome.

Priya LynnApril 15, 2013 at 2:32 pm -

Glendenb said “There are accounts of transwomen behaving in ways that are harmful to the stated intent of the festival oragnizers, ways that damage community.”.

Priya – the wikipedia page on Camp Trans includes a list of some of allegations. A number of feminist blogs include accounts of various confrontations, although some seem accidental (i.e. a claim that a transwoman elbowed another woman while trying to get onto a dance floor during a musical performance).

For me, part of reading about the issues around the MWMF requires constantly checking my privilege. As I said before, I think the question for me as a gay man is how can I stand in solidarity with both communities.

Priya LynnApril 16, 2013 at 2:49 pm -

Glendenb the allegations about camp trans certainly don’t sound to me like anything a transwoman would do.

Conflicts that arouse out of a demonstration against the policy of exclusion aren’t evidence of incidences that would have justified the policy in the first place.

You made it sound as though there were some incidences that justified the policy in the first place, that does not appear to be the case at all. If there had been no policy of exclusion camp trans and the allegations wouldn’t have existed at all. If there were such incidences, it was the policy of exclusion that led to them, rather than transgendered women behaving in harmful ways leading to the policy of exclusion.

SomewomanApril 20, 2013 at 2:05 am -

Frankly, MWMF is a forum that segregates on the basis of genitals at birth. Just as with the white Aryan purity, women who called themselves womyn aim to create a group for the pure women. It is a way to get revenge against men, in their minds. The women in the group who oppose trans women from joining are merely exercising their prejudice and belief that those born with a penis cannot ever think or be like them. The question is why do biological females with a good heart or mind and trans females want to be part of another rabid group focused on purity? There are so many better things to do in life. A lot of women don’t give a damn about MWMF. Why even bother to join a bunch of bigots celebrating anything? If society gets rid of discrimination against genetic females, would MWMF still have a reason to exist? If so, is it just another form of sexism? So to all women including transwomen who believe MWMF is wrong, why don’t you create a parallel Michigan “Woman’s” Music Festival, get artists who support the cause of equality and change history?

Brawny71April 26, 2013 at 2:59 pm -

Yes, it has been the policy from the start. BS then, BS now. How can we stand up for a woman barred from being a boy scout den mother, and NOT denounce this festival’s exclusion of others? And like the boy scouts, people disagree with it, but attend and tolerate discrimination anyway. But fewer and fewer will, and like the BSA you’ll soon be faced with a choice: give up your discrimination or call it quits.

MattMay 9, 2013 at 10:44 pm -

Imagine thinking, believing, and knowing that you’re a woman, and an all-woman’s music event says you can’t attend. Imagine getting this kind of s**t treatment at the other side of realizing your dream to walk in society as a woman. With apologies to L. Frank Baum, the festival organizers lack courage, brains, AND heart.

LaurelMay 13, 2013 at 4:02 am -

“Cis” lesbians are still considered a minority, and I see no problem with women who connect with each other wanting to have a space where they can bond. All minority groups have this. The path to womanhood for a trans* woman is different of a non-trans woman. Nothing stating that one is superior or inferior…just different outlooks on life. Being socialized as a female since birth and having society treat you as such puts a different perspective on life as opposed to someone who didn’t go down that same path. If trans* women are to be included in this festival all while still having trans* only events, where does this leave “cis” lesbians? Out in the cold? Do people not give a s**t since they’re “cis”? And from what I’ve been reading from angry trans* activists, most of them really don’t give a damn about the performers or the festival. They just see forcing the festival to allow trans* women in as an entitlement victory. If the majority of the festival goers feel more comfortable being around “women born women”, then why bully your way into a space where you’ll feel unwanted? Is it for bragging rights? There are queer prides and other lesbian festivals that welcomes trans* women…but there is also a break-down of sub groups for special events on the side. If everyone under the lgbt umbrella can have their own special events, then why can’t “cis” lesbians? Jeez, just let these women have their moment for one freakin’ week. People can sugarcoat it and be phony all they want, but at the end of the day, the vast majority, if not all of true “cis” lesbians may see trans* women as potential friends, but as long as there is still a penis, then you can forget about potential romantic/sexual partners. And I’ve even been called transphobic because I prefer a woman with a vagina, like pretty much all lesbians out there. I refuse to be apologetic because I’m aroused by all of the things that come with performing cunnilingus on my gf. When the issue of sex comes up, there will always be this divide considering most trans* women are pre-op. If you’re a trans* lesbian amongst “cis” lesbians, would you rather them be upfront about it or be hypocrites like the “so called” pc allies.

Susan HendersonMay 26, 2013 at 2:53 pm -

I dont understand why this issue has become an issue for MWMF to deal with. So who decides whois a woman and who isnt? If a tranagender that still has not had surgery to become a womyn physically should she be allowed to come to festival? I mean that where do we draw the line? So when my wonderful neighborhood bar holds an all male or female event should i be offended? Is it old fashioned or am i a bigot if i say there are differences and challenges for womyn born womyn and transgendered womyn? I just want to know honestly.

Priya LynnMay 26, 2013 at 8:50 pm -

Susan, all women are different, there’s nothing saying a transwoman is more different from one biological female than a second biological female is from the first bilogical female. You can’t generalize and say its a given that transwomen necessarily have different experiences than biological women. What makes you heartless is insisting on treating transwomen as men.

Susan HendersonMay 26, 2013 at 3:15 pm -

So now lesbians have no hearts because we want a festival of only womyn

Susan HendersonMay 27, 2013 at 9:08 am -

Ok i hear you PL. As a woman i dont want to treat anyone differently. Am i capable of that? I truly hope so. Yet as i move through this life i also recognize my own prejudices. I do not pretend to understand all that transgendered people must deal with yet i am willing to try. Thank you for your comments. I aporeciate it. Sjh

Priya LynnMay 27, 2013 at 11:40 am -

Thanks for your consideration Susan.

CherylJosieJune 3, 2013 at 12:55 am -

Whenever someone creates another anti-transsexual/transgender exclusionary policy, whether it be against insurance coverage for transition, or against the right to participate in a public event, or against the right to have an appropriate gender marker without undergoing genital mutilation that in some cases destroys everything and in every case destroys something, I always come back to the same principle. How are intersexuals treated in the same situation? With the release of the DSM-V, adult intersexuals are now treated by the exact same rigid protocols that transsexuals are treated under (a development that intersexuals nearly universally protested). Remember, intersexuals usually ended up being marked ‘F’ and made into ‘women’ at birth just because the genital reconstruction was deemed easier than tolerating a life of anti-intersexual discrimination, not because they identify as women and will have an easier life for it. Fortunately, with the DSM-V, knee-jerk ‘corrective’ surgery for intersexual infants has finally been called into question. Some intersexuals are actually otherwise ‘normal’ men that have no response to testosterone due to a genetic disorder, and do not even know it until they never get a period or attempt to have sex. Many intersexuals are actually ‘men’ who were made ‘women’ simply because they had a small penis at birth, and end up either functioning as ‘womyn born womyn’ (and not coming out of the closet at public events just so they can be discriminated against by small-minded people with small-minded policies), or undergoing a second, even more destructive transition back into ‘men’ as adults. Are the organizers of this public event now going to demand medical records to identify all the ‘womyn’ who were born intersexual so they can exclude them as well for having endured the unique pain of losing their sexual sensation, orgasmic capacity, and gender identity to technological limitations, or are the organizers going to simply discriminate against the easy targets – intersexuals and transsexuals that have undergone secondary sexual development as adults from both male and female hormones, and can often be identified by a cursory visual inspection simply because we cannot alter bone structure to create an appropriate waist-to-hip ratio? Doctors take an oath that commits them to do the least harm possible. In a world where neurological diagnosis and brain surgery is in its infancy, genital surgery for intersexual infants has usually been the path of choice simply because it is all that a doctor can do to placate the parents and avoid a malpractice suit when the child fails to adapt to ambiguous genitalia in a horribly hostile society. Whatever path the doctor chooses (and it is always the DOCTOR who makes the choice, not God), the medical goal is always to honor the intentions of and make life easier for the patient, not for society, but the reality is that society always trumps the infant patient in a world of limited medical powers. If we had accurate neurological diagnosis at birth and a perfect surgical outcome, this womyn-born-womyn anti-trans issue would instantly vanish due to a technological breakthrough that would diagnose both intersexuals and transsexuals at birth, and make the appropriate changes before any of this bigoted lived-experience rubbish could muddy the waters. Are we telling M-to-F transpeople that, because in today’s society of limited medical technology where they alone have to endure a horrible in-built dichotomy until they can pony up the $100,000 plus for transition on their own in countries like the US where anti-trans bigots rule, we are then going to stuff their noses back into that dichotomy, and once again open that excruciating wound, and discriminate against them for the rest of their lives if they just happen to be lesbian music lovers who are out transgender and possibly medical patients too? The point is, nature does not label us as male or female, doctors do. If a doctor makes a mistake at birth, and labels a transwoman as male, (something that occurs universally today due to technological limitations), is that woman naturally doomed to a life of rejection and alienation simply because she was born with a medical disorder, or are we as a society above such pathetically selfish behavior? This limitation in medical technology is the sole basis of the choice that the organizers of this event are making, and the ‘lived experience’ excuse is just cover for what they really want – the ability to ‘hook up’ without worrying that they might have fallen for a ‘pretender’ and get a rude surprise in the future. My take on it is, if they really want a ‘womyn born womyn’ sexual experience, they can ask first, or even wear their bigotry on their sleeves with a T-shirt that says, ‘Transwomyn need not apply’.

AlexJune 19, 2013 at 10:34 pm -

The better question is, who really cares? As a trans person why would I want to attend a festival whose organizers have set themselves up as openly hostile to me and my existence? If they don’t want me in the club I don’t want to be there. I suggest all other trans people adopt the same attitude so we can all live and let one another alone. I certainly don’t want to be associated with some nut trying to convince people to accept them where they aren’t wanted.

HaileyJuly 7, 2013 at 1:04 pm -

I think the whole thing is hilarious! I’m a girl (born with transsexualism), and I went to the festival last year. Nobody had a clue because i look and sound like a young, super gorgeous genetic girl.
So banning trans girls doesnt work at this festival, i was there! :D

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